{{Short description|Biweekly political magazine in Turkey (1954–1960)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2024}} {{Infobox magazine | image_file = | image_size = | image_caption = | editor = | editor_title = | frequency = Biweekly | circulation = | category = {{ubl|Political magazine|Arts magazine}} | company = | publisher = | founder = {{ubl|Aydın Yalçın|Nilüfer Yalçın}} | founded = 1954 | firstdate = 1 April 1954 | finaldate = 28 April 1970 | country = Turkey | based = Ankara | language = Turkish | website = | issn = | oclc = }} '''''Forum''''' was a biweekly political and cultural magazine which was published in Ankara, Turkey, between 1954 and 1970. The magazine is known for its opposition to the Democrat Party (DP) and its leading contributors. Its title was a reflection of its intend to be a publication for open debate about politics and culture.<ref name=stg>{{cite journal|author=Şehnaz Tahir-Gürçağlar|title=Translation as Conveyor: Critical Thought in Turkey in the 1960s|url=https://aueo.org/translation_as_conveyor.pdf|journal=Works and Days|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210729153340/https://aueo.org/translation_as_conveyor.pdf|archive-date=29 July 2021|url-status=dead|year=2015|volume=20|issue=1–2|pages=258–259}}</ref>
==History and profile== ''Forum'' was started in 1954, and its first issue appeared on 1 April that year.<ref name=bora/><ref name=ökbata/> In the inaugural issue the magazine described its goal as "to help enlighten the people by confronting different opinions."<ref name=nicca/> Its founders were Aydın Yalçın ve Nilüfer Yalçın.<ref name=tustav/> The latter was also the first editor-in-chief and owner of the magazine which came out biweekly.<ref name=bora/><ref name=tustav/><ref name=ybul4/> The magazine was later owned by different individuals, including Metin And, Osman Okyar, Fikret Ekinci ve Asime Korkmazgil.<ref name=ybul4/> The members of its editorial board were mostly intellectuals and academics.<ref name=stg/> It was headquartered in Ankara.<ref name=jfkol>{{cite journal|author=John F. Kolars|title=Community Studies in Rural Turkey|journal=Annals of the American Association of Geographers|volume=52|issue=4|year=1962|jstor=2561261|page=486}}</ref> The magazine had a 24-page format, but some issues had 32 pages.<ref name=ybul4/>
''Forum'' was one of the supporters of the Liberty Party which was established by the former members of the DP in 1955.<ref name=asil>{{cite journal|author=M. Asım Karaömerlioğlu|author2=İlkay Kirişçioğlu|year=2022|title=Political travelers in a polarized country: the Freedom Party experience in Turkish history|journal=Middle Eastern Studies|volume=58|issue=6 |pages=951, 956, 959|doi=10.1080/00263206.2022.2034148|s2cid=247429927}}</ref> Over time the magazine's opposition to the ruling DP increased, and it was closed down by the DP government on 15 April 1960.<ref name=ökbata/> ''Forum'' resumed its publication only after the military coup of 27 May 1960.<ref name=ökbata/> In the first issue after the ban dated 1 June the magazine praised the military coup which ended the DP's rule and described it as the most gentleman coup d'état.<ref name=ökbata/><ref name=asil/> In the post-coup period ''Forum'' supported the formation of a social-democratic coalition consisting of industrialists, civil servants, workers, and poor peasants against the populist coalition of peasants and merchants which had been established during the DP rule.<ref name=nik21>{{cite journal|author=Nikos Christofis |title="Turkey Will Be a Second France, Unless Our Demands Are Satisfied": The Turkish Student Movement in the Long 1960s|journal=Turkish Historical Review|volume=12|issue=2-3|year=2021|doi=10.1163/18775462-bja10021|page=167}}</ref> The magazine also supported the view that the new constitution should normalize the political arena in Turkey which had been destabilized by the DP government.<ref name=nicca>{{cite book |editor1=Marc Aymes|editor2=Benjamin Gourisse|editor3=Élise Massicard|title=Order and Compromise: Government Practices in Turkey from the Late Ottoman Empire to the Early 21st Century|publisher=Brill|year=2015|isbn=978-90-04-28985-7|author= Nicolas Camelio|chapter=“The Military Seize the Law”: The Drafting of the 1961 Constitution|location=Leiden|doi=10.1163/9789004289857_007|page=128}}</ref>
''Forum'' had a liberal stance in the 1950s and advocated Western-type, Keynesian liberal democracy as well as liberal principles such as freedom of thought and the free press.<ref name=nik21/><ref name=sneel>{{cite thesis |page=28|author=Sarah-Neel Smith|title=Art, Democracy, and the Culture of Dissent in 1950s Turkey|id={{ProQuest|1705942991}}|isbn=978-1-321-79825-8|location=University of California, Los Angeles|url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1705942991|degree=Ph.D.|year=2015}}</ref> It also supported a liberal economic approach, including interventionist and non-interventionist approaches to the national market.<ref name=sneel/> It adopted a socialist political stance in the late 1960s.<ref name=ökbata/>
In addition to articles by Turkish contributors, ''Forum'' contained Turkish translations of the articles on political and economic topics from foreign newspapers and journals, including ''The Economist'', ''New York Herald Tribune'' and ''The Times''.<ref name=stg/> These articles were featured in a section entitled "Ne Diyorlar?" ({{langx|tr|What Are They Saying?}}).<ref name=stg/> ''Forum'' also featured articles on arts<ref name=bora/> and on rural settlements.<ref name=jfkol/>
Throughout its run ''Forum'' published two special issues. One of them was entitled "Injustice to Teachers" dated 15 December 1967, and the other one was entitled "The Eastern Region" dated 15 January 1968.<ref name=ybul4/>
''Forum'' folded on 15 October 1969.<ref name=ökbata/> It was restarted in February 1970, but permanently ceased publication on 28 April 1970 after producing a total of 379 issues.<ref name=ökbata>{{cite encyclopedia|author=Özlem Kırlı Baydur|title=Forum Dergisi|encyclopedia=Atatürk Encyclopedia|date=16 January 2024|language=tr|url=https://ataturkansiklopedisi.gov.tr/bilgi/forum-dergisi/}}</ref><ref name=ybul4>{{cite journal |author=Yücel Bulut|title=Soğuk Savaş Atmosferinde DP'ye Muhalif Bir Dergi: Forum|journal=Türkiye Araştırmaları Literatür Dergisi|year=2004 |issue=3|page=528|url=https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/pub/talid/issue/43388/528688|language=tr}}</ref>
==Contributors== Most of the ''Forum'' contributors were political scientists and legal academics from Ankara University and Istanbul University, including Bahri Savcı, Osman Okyar, Bedii Feyzioğlu, Turhan Feyzioğlu, Turan Güneş, and Kemal Salih.<ref name=ökbata/> In addition, various leading academics and political figures from different orientations published articles in the magazine: Sadun Aren, Aziz Nesin, Doğan Avcıoğlu, Muammer Aksoy, İlhan Arsel, Şerif Mardin, Bülent Ecevit, Cevat Çapan, Orhan Asena, Cahit Talas, Mümtaz Soysal, Yakup Kepenek, Münci Kapani, Coşkun Kırca ve Fahir Armaoğlu.<ref name=ökbata/> Of them Şerif Mardin, Bülent Ecevit, Turhan Feyzioğlu and Attilâ İlhan also shaped the ideological framework of ''Forum''.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Bican Şahin|author2=Seval Yaman |author3=Belgin Tarhan|editor1=Alpaslan Özerdem|editor2=Ahmet Erdi Öztürk|year=2023|title=A Companion to Modern Turkey's Centennial Political, Sociological, Economic and Institutional Transformations since 1923|publisher=Edinburgh University Press|page=97|doi=10.1515/9781474492546-010|location=Edinburgh|isbn=9781474492546|chapter-url=https://doi.org/10.1515/9781474492546-010|chapter=The Trajectory of Liberalism in Turkey: From the Ottoman Empire to the Present}}</ref> In the 1960s the magazine featured articles by Ahmet N. Yücekök, İsmail Beşikçi, Behice Boran, Mehmet Ali Aybar and Hüseyin Korkmazgil.<ref name=ökbata/>
Bilge Karasu was a regular contributor of ''Forum'' between its start in 1954 to 1959.<ref name=bora/> His articles were about art criticism.<ref name=bora>{{cite journal|author=Bora Gürdaş|title=Bilge Karasu'nun Forum dergisinde yayımlanan sanat yazıları (1954-1959) |issue=20|year=2020|doi=10.29000/rumelide.791646|journal=RumeliDE Dil ve Edebiyat Araştırmaları Dergisi|pages=296–309|language=tr|doi-access=free}}</ref> The other ''Forum'' contributors whose articles were on music, literature, theatre, and plastic arts included İlhan Mimaroğlu, Bedii Sevin, Turgut Uyar, Güner Sümer, Hüseyin Cöntürk, Metin And, Gültekin Oransay, and Kaya Özsezgin.<ref name=bora/>
==Legacy== Issues of ''Forum'' were archived by TUSTAV.<ref name=tustav>{{cite web|title=Süreli yayınlar. Forum|publisher=TUSTAV|access-date=6 March 2024 |language=tr|url=https://www.tustav.org/sureli-yayinlar-arsivi/forum/}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Forum}} Category:1954 establishments in Turkey Category:1970 disestablishments in Turkey Category:Biweekly magazines published in Turkey Category:Defunct political magazines published in Turkey Category:Magazines established in 1954 Category:Magazines disestablished in 1970 Category:Magazines published in Ankara Category:Defunct Turkish-language magazines Category:Banned magazines Category:Censorship in Turkey Category:Defunct socialist magazines Category:Liberalism in Turkey